Karoline Leavitt’s been plagued by all kinds of fashion issues throughout her time as Donald Trump’s Press Secretary, including her reliance on blinged-up schoolgirl style. Even though she’s the youngest White House Press Secretary in history, Leavitt often dresses way older. While washed-out pastel shades are often to blame, highly saturated colors aren’t foolproof either, as Leavitt recently demonstrated. She stepped out in a MAGA-red blazer and floral bow-tie blouse on March 16, 2026, and the effect was underwhelming.
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The blouse’s loud print and floppy bow reek of the 1970s. On multiple occasions, Leavitt has sported oversized, outdated ’70s sunglasses, and she just can’t seem to quit her fandom for the decade. While the top half is vibrantly colored, Leavitt paired it with boring black pants and black pumps. It would have looked a lot more cohesive if she had worn matching red pants.
Then again, Leavitt’s just a couple of months away from welcoming her second child, so she may not want to invest in more maternity wear. In that case, Leavitt could have kept the pants and worn red shoes to continue the color theme. Then again, since she was appearing on TV that day, Leavitt might not have invested extra energy into the bottom portion of her outfit, since she figured no one would see it on camera anyway.
Leavitt keeps making bow-tie blouse blunders
Although bow-tie blouses seem to perennially be in style, Karoline Leavitt might want to think twice before she adds another one to her wardrobe. The super-contrasting print on Leavitt’s recent red blouse is too distracting, and it’s better suited to furniture or other textiles. Even so, it still stacks up better than some of her other bow-tie ‘fits (seen above). Leavitt’s gold and dusky green blouse looked straight from “The Golden Girls” set, and the abstract print made it hard to see what’s going on with the tie. The collar was half-up, half-down, and only one loop of the tie was visible, making it look like more of a mess.
In contrast, Leavitt’s plain white blouse in the right picture is neatly tied. This time, it’s Leavitt’s pink suit that’s a letdown. Leavitt’s very 1980s look has us checking the calendar, and her thumbs-up pose drew undue attention to her cuffed sleeves. If Leavitt wanted shorter sleeves, she could have either had them altered or rolled them up multiple times, rather than hastily turning them up just once.
When it comes to bright colors, Leavitt’s better off ditching the prints and sticking with monochrome. When the press secretary wore a bright green dress in summer 2025, Leavitt looked like she was taking a chic cue from Catherine, Princess of Wales. Kate Middleton’s also a master of the bow tie, so if Leavitt is ever tempted to rock this look again, she might want to study Kate’s technique.
